Live music, bamboo pole performances and free Filipino food filled Dorothy A. and James W. Laurie Auditorium on March 27. Beginning at 6 p.m, Trinity’s Filipino Student Association (FSA) hosted their annual showcase, Mabuhay.
Noelle Poquiz, senior engineering major and FSA member, has spent three years performing on the Mabuhay stage. All that time, she’s asked the same question she asked her grandmother in Manila: “Is this a Filipino thing, or just a my-family thing?” On Friday, standing center stage of Laurie Auditorium for the last time, Poquiz felt she finally had an answer.
“Just getting to know other people from the same culture, outside of my own family, you find out, ‘oh, you guys did that too.’ Or, ‘Oh, this is just something my family did.’” Poquiz said.
For Poquiz, FSA has been more than a student organization. It’s an ongoing act of self-definition – a space where Filipino identity can be confirmed and celebrated among people who understand it from the inside.
“Community, friendship, family. No act is a solo act. Karaoke alone is a sad, sad thing,” Poquiz said.
This year’s show moved from its usual October slot, Asian American History Month, to spring for the first time, tightening the production timeline around spring break. The coordination was “a little more hairy,” Poquiz said, but the result was seamless.
Poquiz said the goal is simply for audiences to enjoy the event and become interested in the culture. “It doesn’t have to be, ‘I learned the deepest history of the Philippines,’” she said. “If they just left thinking this was fun, then that’s a good opener. Maybe they’ll look into it. Maybe next year they’ll try tinikling.”
Poquiz noted that the karaoke lineup, which has featured Filipino artists like Bruno Mars and Journey’s Arnel Campaner Pineda, has quietly become one of Mabuhay’s most effective ways to introduce Filipino culture.
Nitya Donthireddy, sophomore computer science major, and her friend Gia Kakadia, sophomore biomedical sciences major from Texas A&M University, came to cheer on three mutual friends performing across different acts. “I feel like this was just a great way to get to know [Filipino culture],” Kakadia said.
The inclusive atmosphere is what drew Lily Lane, senior neuroscience major and FSA events coordinator. Lane, who is Chinese, joined four years ago because FSA consistently followed through on its open-membership policy.
“You don’t have to be Asian. You don’t have to be Filipino,” she said. “I think part of Filipino culture is being very welcoming to everyone.”
Lane has watched Mabuhay grow from its revival in fall 2023. Then, it returned after a multi-year absence to its current form, becoming tighter and more polished each year, Lane said.
“It was really like, ‘hey, FSA is back. We’re present. We’re alive,’” she said of FSA’s first comeback show.
Now, in her final semester, she sees a new generation ready to carry it forward. “It’s kind of sad to see the seniors leave,” Lane said. “But it’s also good to see the new generation coming.”
*This article was updated April 8, 2026.
